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After 40 years of staking its reputation on dark and medium coffee roasts, Starbucks began offering a light roast on January 10.

The Seattle-based coffee giant launched its new Blonde roast across the country in what some believe is a response to the growth of coffee competitors like McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.

In an e-mail to QSR, Starbucks spokeswoman Alisa Martinez said the company launched the lighter roast as a response to market demand. The company’s research showed that while plenty of customers liked the taste of Starbucks’ darker blends, 54 million American coffee drinkers would rather drink something milder.

“We realized there was a huge segment of the market we were missing,” Martinez said. “Nearly 40 percent of U.S. coffee drinkers prefer a lighter roast.”

Martinez said the Blonde, which is available in the Veranda Blend (notes of cocoa and lightly toasted nuts), the Willow Blend (bright, crisp flavor), and Decaf Willow Blend, also gives existing customers a new reason to go to Starbucks.

John Gordon, principal and founder of the Pacific Management Consulting Group, says the Blonde could draw customers from other chains.

“I think it is a shot at McDonald’s,” Gordon says. “It’s somewhat of a shot at Dunkin’. I think this is a deliberate strategy to reach out to that entire flavor profile segment.”

Dunkin’ Donuts, in particular, has succeeded largely on the back of its popular light roast, the Original Blend.

“Coffee is the core of our business,” says Grant Benson, vice president of franchise and market planning for Dunkin’ Brands. “It is the No. 1 product, it’s what we exist [for], it’s what our priority is.” Benson estimates that 60 percent of the company’s sales come from the beverage menu.

“Nearly 40 percent of U.S. coffee drinkers prefer a lighter roast.”

Dunkin’s success helped it expand through the recession, and recently the company announced its intention to double its unit count from more than 7,000 locations to some 14,000 locations in the next 20 years. The chain is planning to expand aggressively into what Benson calls “white space,” or new territories where the company doesn’t have a presence—including Starbucks’ stronghold, the West Coast.

“Based on the past, my guess would be that Starbucks won’t even think about it,” Gordon says. “Everybody looks at their competitors of course, but I think Starbucks thinks that they’re on a different level.”

Where Starbucks might be more concerned about coffee competitors is in the retail space. The Dunkin’ Donuts Original Blend is, according to Dunkin’, the No. 1 coffee SKU in grocery stores across the country, and Benson says it’s been a great way to get the Dunkin’ Donuts brand in front of people, especially in regions where it doesn’t yet have stores.

Martinez says grocery sales have been a major missed opportunity for Starbucks and that the Blonde roast will help the company build that category.

“Down the grocery aisle [is] where a majority of sales are in the light and medium roast categories,” Martinez wrote. “This segment of the market represents a $1 billion opportunity for the company in the U.S. alone.”

To help Starbucks’ push to build its retail business, the company is debuting new, minimalist coffee packages that are organized by roast, making it easier for customers to select which coffee they want to purchase. The light roast packages have a yellow color scheme, the medium are brown, and the dark are purple. The new packaging will be used in Starbucks stores as well.

“These categories will make it easier for customers to find their favorite coffee by taste and intensity,” Martinez said. “This is incredibly important in grocery, given 25 percent of shoppers leave the coffee aisle without making a decision, because they can’t find what they are looking for.”

With McDonald’s, Krispy Kreme, and smaller chains like Saxbys and Caribou Coffee stepping up their growth efforts, the coffee space is heating up. But brands may be able to grow without bumping into each other, Gordon says. He compares the situation to 2008 and 2009, when Howard Schulz returned to revive a struggling Starbucks, and McDonald’s ramped up its McCafé offerings.

Even though both major national chains were focusing intensely on coffee, Gordon says, neither was significantly affected by its rival.

“Both of them said, ‘Well, the other guy didn’t touch me at all,’” Gordon says.

Excuse me, with all of that moolah collected from all of those overpriced drinks, how does it take you 40 years to reach this conclusion? Especially if it's true that it makes up 40% of your potential market? Perhaps if we dig into the demographics of that 40%, we might better understand why they waited so long to do anything about it...I'm guessing target demographic 'age' might have had something to do with the delay. I'm 34...

You walk into DD and grab your coffee and go. At sbux you have to wait for the idiot in front of you who orders a drink that needs extensive instructions to make it. Aggravating!!!!I gave up on Starbucks a long time ago because of this....their coffee is not worth the wait..

DD is never consistent. However, it is a decent cup if brewed correctly. At SBUX, I get a consistent blend every time. Don't to need worry if I'm going to spend my hard earned dollars on a crappy product.Perhaps, it's the reason DD couldn't stay competitive out West when they tried to build there nearly 20 years ago. They closed up and ran back East. I agree with John Gordon that SBUX doesn't think twice about DD. They'll just run them out of town again and again.Grant Benson says that nearly 60% of DD sales are from their beverage category. That might be true in their core Northeast markets. However, I hear the number is closer to 40%-45% in the Southern and Mid-Western states. I suppose they sell more donuts than coffee outside of the Northeast.I recently tried the blond roast and was very impressed with the flavor profile. Typically, I like a stronger brew in the morning and a lighter brew in the afternoon. SBUX is now my one stop shop across the coffee roast spectrum. Than you SBUX!